Music has always been — and will always be — a part of Josh Maitland’s life.
The Collingwood-based resource engineer moonlights as a musician and producer. When he is not home jamming with his family, he is helping artists, both locally and around the world, develop their sound and create their dream records.
He does it all at the Red Room, his recording studio in Thornbury that specializes in the recording, mixing and production of blues, rock, funk, hip hop and any genre where “vibe” is a critical factor.
“I really like the process of working with people on their dream and on their various projects,” Maitland said. “It’s an honour when somebody trusts you to turn their music into something and I always try to make sure that I am doing alright by them.
Maitland has been playing in various bands since high school. A technical guy, he started recording his band’s music with any equipment he had available.
Eventually, life and career took over, but he found himself itching to dive back into music, even deeper this time.
Maitland began taking courses and investing money into a larger variety of equipment, developing a makeshift home studio in his basement — which was painted red at the time.
“Up until that point I was just messing around,” said Maitland. “But I started learning more about recording and the real details behind it, and I got hooked. I used my own bands as guinea pigs.”
In 2012, Maitland and his band built a solar cabin in Northern Ontario on a section of land that was boat access only. They pulled together their best music, and spent the week writing and recording an album on solar power. Maitland said it was the unofficial start of Red Room.
“That experience was just so fun and awesome that I wanted to keep doing it,” he said. “It was a great kick-off.”
When they got home, he continued recording music for both himself and his friends, and in 2014 he finally decided to open it up to the public.
Maitland opened the studio space in Thornbury with its high ceilings, instruments, and recording equipment.
He kept his home studio as well, where he prefers to do most of his mixing and mastering after the recording sessions are complete.
“The studio itself is off the grid, so when we are out there we are focused on creating,” he said.
Maitland said mixing and mastering can involve a lot of back and forth with artists, so he likes to do so from the comfort of his own home — sometimes working late into the night when he is inspired.
He bounces ideas off other producers, bandmates and friends, but for the most part, it’s up to Maitland to pull it all together.
“It’s one of the things I love about recording and production, you get to help people mold these ideas that they have,” he said. “It takes a lot for people to trust you with their art. I know that first hand — it’s why I started recording my own stuff.”
Maitland has collaborated with artists of all genres, and continuously works with various companies around the community. He has worked on a couple albums with Collingwood Live & Original, and, most recently, he worked with Shipyard Kitchen Party to record a song in the Collingwood Public Library.
For him, the music scene in South Georgian Bay has a lot of potential.
“The music community in Collingwood and Thornbury, Meaford and Wasaga Beach is amazing,” he said. “There is an insane amount of really cool and talented people around here.”
One of those talented musicians is Maitland’s 10-year-old daughter, Laura. Maitland and his daughter recorded a Christmas album together this year.
Maitland didn’t come from a musical family himself — saying his father self describes as “a-tonal” — but his mother put him in piano lessons at a young age and forced him to practice even when he didn’t want to.
“Even though they weren’t musical, they fostered it in us. Years later, I still thank them for that,” he said.
So Maitland wanted to instil the same passion in his children.
“Although they are taking to it way better than I ever did,” he laughed.
Maitland and Laura worked together Monday nights for several weeks at the end of last year, producing a Christmas album they shared with their friends and family. Laura was even able to sell a few of them at a local Christmas market.
Maitland dreams of one day making recordings and production his full-time gig, but he wants to never lose the magic that is playing live as well.
“It’s a careful balancing act to not get too busy with one thing that the other slips through,” said Maitland.
In the meantime, he also teaches recording and production to those who want to learn. He knows in some way, music will always be a part of his life.
“It’s a really enjoyable process to collaborate with people on their projects and see what I can do to help them take it from their head into a reality,” said Maitland.
